


The Little Advisor

by bgn846



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: De-aging, Fluff, Gen, Prompto Is A Good Bro, fake status effects, gladio saves the day, he does warm up eventually, little iggy doesn't like noct, smol Ignis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 01:46:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18085058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bgn846/pseuds/bgn846
Summary: Ignis get hit with a status effect that de-ages him to the tender age of seven.  However it takes him a little while to warm up the bros, and he may never believe Noct is the prince.





	The Little Advisor

**Author's Note:**

> Read a bunch of smol Ignis stories and then I was like I wanna play too. So this wonderful thing was born. If you all like it and want more then let me know, I could do a series with the rest of them getting de-aged. Hope you enjoy!! :)

The look of fear in the young boy’s eyes was enough to make Gladio stop his approach.  “It’s okay buddy, come on don’t you recognize me?” He tried with a nervous smile.  “It’s me Gladdy.”

The fair haired, green eyed youth took a step back and looked like he was about to start crying as Noct ran over.  “Holy sh --.”  He exclaimed before Gladio cut him off. 

“Noct, language!” He chided as he knelt on the ground to be eye level with the boy who had managed to find a large rock to hide behind. 

“That fight was intense I don’t think I’ve ever seen that monster before.” Prompto exclaimed as he took in the unfolding scene. The prince and his bodyguard were trying to talk to a small child.  How did a kid even make it all the way out here? 

There was something odd about the youth, his features were familiar and he was staring at Gladio like he’d seen a ghost.  He had to be no older than seven, dressed in little slacks, a white shirt, and vest.  Then a thought hit Prompto like a ton of bricks, was he looking at a young Ignis!?   He couldn’t help it as he squealed.  “Ignis!  Is that you?”

The boy still looked distressed but managed to take a deep enough breath to speak.  “How – how do you all know me?”  He asked in a timid voice.

“Iggy it’s me Gladdy, we grew up together.  I’m just older now.” The shield tried for a second time. 

“Huh uh!  You’re too big and your hair is different!  Ignis shouted with a pained face.  The kid still looked like he might burst into tears any second. 

“Did he suffer a status effect?” Noct asked quickly trying to catch up to what was going on.

“Like sunshine said, that monster was new so I guess it had a new magic trick to go with it.” Gladio sighed.     

“What do we do?” Prompto asked worriedly.  It didn’t seem like Ignis was going to be very trusting of them anytime soon. 

Gladio turned back to put his full attention to Ignis.  “Do you remember when we decided to play hide and seek from my dad?  We ran out to hide in the garden and we both fell into the fish pond.”

This surprisingly got a reaction out of little Ignis.  He leaned out partially from his spot behind the rock and looked at Gladio very seriously.  “What did we do after we fell in?” He asked.

Smiling the shield recounted the rest of the tale.  “We were silly and ran back into the house screaming for help and got the floor all wet and made my dad fall on his butt.”

In a flash Ignis had bolted from his spot and ran straight for Gladio after he finished talking.  The tears that had been threatening to spill were now coming full force as he clung to Gladio’s neck.   “Wh—aaa happened?” He wailed.  “Wh – ere are we?”

“We are outside of Insomnia and you got struck by some magic that is confusing you.” Gladio offered as he hugged little Ignis and rubbed his back. 

“Don’t leave me!” He cried out unsure of what to expect next.

“I’m not gonna leave you Iggy, its okay we will help you.”

After a minute of sobbing Ignis had managed to calm down enough to lean back and stare incredulously at Noct and Prompto. “Who are those two?” He whispered in Gladio’s ear as he wiped an errant tear away from his round cheek.  

Blondie over there is named Prompto, he is a very good friend of mine if you need anything you can ask him for help alright.” Pausing Gladio looked to Noct next.  “Do you remember taking care of the prince?”

Ignis nodded and narrowed his eyes at Noct. 

“Well that’s Noctis.” He added pointing for dramatic effect.  

“Na uh.” Ignis pouted.  “He doesn’t look like him at all, don’t try and trick me.”   

“Hey buddy I’m not trying to trick ya, it’s true he’s the prince.”

Ignis outright frowned this time and shook his head more aggressively.  He then turned back and hugged Gladio again so he didn’t have to look at the rest of them.    The walk back to camp was interesting, Gladio had asked if Ignis wanted to be carried and he had agreed immediately.   Prompto trailed behind with Noct keeping stride next to him. 

“I can’t believe he doesn’t recognize me.” Noct huffed under his breath.   “Gladio looks so different and I’m practically the same.  What gives!”  

“Maybe you should try smiling more.  I mean it worked for the big guy.”  Prompto offered. 

Noct grumbled and kept pace with them even if he was stomping more than usual.  Though the blonde also felt a little left out.   Gladio seemed to be the only one of them that Ignis would interact with.  Once the haven was within sight Noct ran ahead to talk to Gladio.

“So what’s the plan? Do we have any idea how long he’ll stay little.” Noct asked.

“I think we should give a couple days and if nothing changes then we -- um – jeez I don’t know Noct.  The list of people available to ask questions to is kinda small these days.   I’m praying to the astrals this will work itself out like every other status effect we’ve had to deal with.”  

“Fair enough.” Noct agreed and then he scowled.  “What are we going to do for dinner?  Kids are picky eaters and our chef is underage.”

Gladio didn’t even grace the question with an answer he shook his head and climbed up on the haven  ignoring Noct. 

Dinner as it turned out wasn’t an issue, little Iggy seemed to take to whatever they gave him.  He did stay glued to Gladio’s side during the whole meal though.  Noct to his credit did try and start a conversation with his de-aged advisor but it didn’t quite have the desired effect. 

“Hey Specs did you like dinner?” Noct asked looking directly at Ignis. 

The look of death the young boy shot at the prince was epic.  Prompto didn’t think kids of that age were capable of processing that depth of emotion.  

“I’m grateful for the food but there’s no reason to make fun of me.  You’re mean!” He huffed.

“Whaa – I’m not making fun of you that’s what I call you all the time!” Noct scrambled.

“Just because I wear glasses doesn’t mean you can pick on me for it!”

“Seriously I’m not picking on you!  We are really good friends trust me.” Noct tried again. It was becoming obvious that Noct had forgotten little Ignis only had his younger memories.  He was trying to talk to him like an adult. 

“Hey Iggy, I’m sure Noct doesn’t mean anything bad by what he said.  He won’t call you that again I promise.” Prompto chimed in to help the situation.  “Right buddy?” He asked looking to the prince.

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” He exclaimed. 

“Noct, just stop talking buddy you are making it worse.” Prompto added with a soft voice.  Thinking quickly on what might distract Ignis from the way the conversation had gone he perked up when he remembered how they’d gotten to the haven.  “Hey Iggy, wanna help me bed down the chocobos?” 

For the first time Ignis actually seemed excited about something.  He sat up straight in his chair that had been drug so close to Gladio’s the metal legs were intertwined.   “They have been grazing for the afternoon so it’s time for us to collect them and make sure they are safe.” 

He nodded and his green eyes lit up in excitement.  “Can I go with Prom? Please?” He begged looking up at Gladio.

“Sure of course I told you he’s a good friend of mine; you’ll be safe with Prompto.”

No more words were exchanged and Ignis shot up out of his chair to follow the blonde.  “Oh! Do I need to help clean up?” He asked quickly looking around at his empty plate. 

“You’re good kiddo, Noct and I will clean up, go check out the chocobos.” Gladio said with a smile.

At the mention of Noct’s name Ignis scowled again and gave him a dirty look.  Prompto caught Gladio trying to stifle a snicker; he was enjoying Ignis giving Noct shit.  The prince seemed so enraged and he was opening his mouth to comment but Prompto drug Ignis away with him before he had the chance.

It became clear that de-aged Ignis absolutely loved chocobos, almost to the same fervor as himself.  Prompto would have to figure out how to milk this new development.  Ignis was jumping up and down and chasing the birds around as the blonde rounded them up.  

Ignis’ chocobo seemed to understand that the little bundle of energy running around was her normal rider.  She followed him intently and kwehed at him a few times in an effort to play.   Prompto was only able to pry him away from the now corralled birds with a promise of riding them the next day. 

Seeing Ignis as a kid was so odd, he did things that other children his age would do but it was still weird to see Ignis acting this way.  Prompto just assumed he’d been an adult forever. 

The remainder of the evening was spent around the fire relaxing.  Ignis had first gone to sit on Gladio’s lap but when he’d taken out his book to read the younger boy became bored quickly.  He wiggled out from under the shields arm and tentatively approached Prompto. “Can I sit with you?”

“Sure buddy! Wanna play a game with me?” Prompto asked as the little boy clamored into his chair to sit with him.

“What game?”

“Kings knight and if we play well we can beat grumpy pants over there.” Prompto added with a grin as he looked over to Noct.

Ignis immediately got serious and balled his little hands into fists.  “Game on!” He shouted excitedly as he sat on Prompto’s lap. 

The chatter of Ignis’ voice calling out moves and warning of danger filled the next hour. Prompto and he managed to wallop Noct in the game.  The blonde wasn’t sure if he wasn’t trying or was so flummoxed at Ignis’ attitude towards him that he kept messing up.  Either way it was fun. 

Sleeping arrangements didn’t go as expected when they all piled into the tent once the fire had died down.  Ignis usually slept on the outside edge next to Noct but when he was shown to his sleeping bag he started fidgeting.  “Um – do I have to sleep there?” He asked quietly.

“It’s where you normally sleep.” Noct cut in with a frown.

Noct really needed to work on smiling because Ignis started crying a second later.  Thankfully Gladio came to the rescue.  Clearly helping to raise his little sister had instilled some good life lessons.

“Hey Iggy, which shirt do you want to sleep in?  The one with chocobos on it or the one with a moogle?”  He asked easily.

Prompto watched in awe as Ignis managed to stop crying and wiped his nose.  “Um – what color is the chocobo one?” He sniffled as he wandered over to Gladio. 

Both shirts were his because why on Eos would Gladio own either of them and Noct only owned dark stuff.  The shield showed him both and Ignis selected the yellow chocobo one. Prompto was tasked with helping him change while Gladio did some rearranging of the sleeping bags. 

“There!  How’s that Iggy?” Gladio questioned a moment later. 

The kid smiled finally and hopped on his feet.  “That’s mine in the middle right?” He checked while pointing. 

“Yep, right in between me and Prompto, so you’ll be safe.  Sound good?” 

That seemed to end the issue for the night and Ignis happily settled into his newly assigned sleeping spot in Prompto’s oversized T-shirt.  Noct looked so put out that he’d been relegated to the edge of the tent that he immediately turned over and pretended to be asleep. 

 

* * *

 

 

Prompto  nearly forgot they were on the run and trying to save the world.   He had a good reason, there was a giggling little kid trailing him around.  The first adventure of the day had been waking up the chocobos and feeding them.  Next they packed up camp and set off in the direction the next haven. 

They’d done the two day trek on chocobo to reach a tomb.  It had been a bust but they’d still run into the nasty monster that had de-aged Ignis.  Thankful that no one had been seriously injured and the natural choice was to head back to the regalia and continue on. 

When they’d started out on the birds the original intent had been for Ignis to ride his own.  However he didn’t feel comfortable by himself and ended up sitting with Prompto.  Once he felt safe all he wanted was for Prompto to make the bird go faster.  Typical kid. 

It was during one of these moments when they were running ahead of the group that Ignis squealed excitedly.  “Look!!” He shouted.

“Huh!  What is it kiddo?” Prompto asked concerned.   

“A lake!   Can we go swimming? Pretty please!”  He begged. 

Gladio rode up a second later. “What’s up?”

“Iggy wants to go swimming.” Prompto offered as he pointed to the body of water.

“I think we are almost to the next haven so this would be a good stopping point to take a quick break.  Hey princess you get to fish if you want.” Gladio called back to Noct who looked positively miserable sitting with a scowl on his face.

“Yippee.” He droned. 

“Come on man cheer up, if you catch anything we will have a good dinner.  I do know how to cook a fish!” Gladio replied.  

Poor Noct had pretty much been given the cold shoulder by Ignis the whole day.  The glasses comment and sleeping bag misunderstanding had soured things.  No matter how many times Gladio and Prompto had tried to explain that Noct meant well.  Ignis still refused to believe it was really the prince.  His friend wouldn’t act like that, he’d insisted.  Noct was sweet and fun to hang out with. 

Of course the prince over heard these exchanges and that would send him off into a little spiral of depression.  His beloved advisor didn’t like him anymore. 

Seeing tiny Ignis run with all his might and jump straight into a slightly cold body of water was amusing.   He surfaced a second later screaming.  At first the blonde thought something bad had happened.  Then the sound of laughter combined with the super loud splash from Gladio cannonballing in after him calmed his nerves. 

Noct had taken a position at the end of the dock to fish and ignore them all as they had fun.  Prompto had never seen Gladio laugh so much as they did that afternoon.  Little Ignis was a pretty good swimmer and once he figured out the shield could bodily toss him several feet in the air he was hooked.  He could only imagine the fun they must have had when they were kids together.  Gladio clearly cared a lot about the advisor. 

After what seemed like an hour Gladio called Ignis over and suggested they get out.  Prompto had gotten out already since he’d started to get cold.  Ignis was practically turning purple but apparently kids don’t notice those things.  He whined loudly at the suggestion he wanted to play more.  One stern look from Gladio changed his mind real quick. 

It was all for the best because Ignis got dried off, redressed, and wrapped in a large blanket.  Then not five minutes later he was fast asleep in Gladio’s arms. 

“Any luck Noct?” Prompto asked.

“Not yet, but maybe now that you guys aren’t making such a racket I’ll catch one.” He huffed. 

He was right, it only took another thirty minutes and they had food for dinner.  “It’s getting late we should find that haven and set up camp.” Gladio reasoned.

The haven was only a short ride away and it looked like they were going to make it there without issue until a pair of cockatrices showed up.  “One of us needs to look after Iggy!” Gladio shouted quickly. 

“Give him to Prompto, he might run away from me at this point and he needs to stay safe!”  Noct instructed as he dismounted and prepared for battle.  

“Highness!” Gladio growled.  “I need you to stay safe as well, Iggy would run me through if something happened to you.” 

“Then don’t let anything bad happen to me!” He shot back.  “Let’s go!”

Ignis woke up as he was being roughly transferred from Gladio to Prompto.  He was groggy but became alert the second the battle started.  Trying to help, Prompto offered calming words as they took the birds and hid behind some nearby rocks.

The blonde desperately wanted to help but he wasn’t sure how Ignis would handle the sound of his guns.  Not to mention the birds might spook and run away.  He had to hope that Gladio and Noct could handle the situation. 

In hind sight Prompto wished he been more observant of where Ignis was looking.  He watched the whole battle from start to end.  Once the final blow was dealt and a wounded Gladio limped over to check on them Ignis had started to cry. 

“Iggy It’s okay I’ll take a potion and be alright.” He added with a stained voice. 

“We need to get to the haven now.” Noct ordered. 

Ignis cried the rest of the way.  Prompto had to hold him since Gladio’s leg was bleeding.  They had a potion but the shield wanted to take it once they safely reached the ancient stones just in case it was needed before then. 

“Iggy, we are all alright, why are you still crying?” Prompto asked in hopes of getting an answer.

“Th-those things were sc- ary.” He sobbed.  “An-nd they hurt Gladdy!”

“Noct and Gladio beat them so they won’t bother us again and we have magic to heal Gladio.”

“What – what i-if more come?” He sputtered.  “We will need to hide again.” 

“That is why the haven is so important little buddy. “  The stones in question came into view and in the fading light the glowing lights could easily be seen.  “Check out the magic in those stones Iggy; they protect us all when we stay there.   All three of us will protect you too.  You are safe.” Prompto assured.    

 Ignis didn’t exactly relax once they arrived.  He didn’t let go of Prompto until Gladio was healed and cleaned up.  Then in a flash he had released the blonde and dashed over to the shield.  The big guy took him up in his arms and settled them both in a chair by the fire.  “You gonna help me cook?” He asked. 

The little boy nodded but stayed curled up in Gladio’s lap.   Prompto followed the instructions he was given on preparing the fish and then Gladio took over roasting it over the open fire.  He could complete this task one handed since his other arm was full of a timid Ignis. 

Bless the shield because he had the patience of a saint.  Once the fish was done he had Prompto help him again with plating and then they ate in silence, mostly.  Gladio was quietly talking with Ignis helping to distract his wandering mind. 

However, when dinner was done and Gladio brought out his book Ignis didn’t leave his embrace.  Prompto ended up playing a few rounds of kings knight with Noct and then decided to call it a night.  Swimming and being out in the sun had drained his energy plus the stress of trying to calm Ignis down earlier hadn’t helped.

They rest of them ended up turning in soon after.  Ignis had pulled Prompto and Gladio’s sleeping bag as close to him as he could.  The blonde could only hope the status effect would wear off soon.  He didn’t want to completely scar little Ignis’ mind with all the fights they endured.  They all drifted off to sleep soon after.

 

* * *

 

 

An odd noise woke Noct up.  It was dark in the tent but he could barely make out a figure sitting up in the middle, it was Ignis.  “Hey buddy, what’s up?  Do you need anything?” He whispered.

“Can you hear that?” Ignis breathed. 

“Hear what?” Then it hit Noct what the little guy was talking about.  It was the noises that had unnerved him when they first started camping out in the wilderness.

The sound of daemons lurking nearby.

Granted they were one hundred percent safe on the haven but it still didn’t make the noises any less creepy. 

“Yeah I hear it.  The things making the noise won’t come up on the rocks.  I promise.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah I’m sure.   I won’t let anything bad happen to you.  You’re one my best friends.”

“Can I lay next to you?” 

The question caught him off guard since Ignis had been so untrusting of him so far.  “Of course, I’ve got room in my sleeping bag you can just hop in.” It took no more than ten seconds for the skinny youth to relocate.  It was at that point Noct realized Ignis was shaking.  Reaching out to rub his back seemed to help. 

They stayed like that for a long while, listening to the monsters outside and hugging. 

“You still don’t look like I remember you.” Ignis finally uttered in a faint voice. 

“But you think it’s me now?” He asked hopeful.

Ignis nodded his head and snuggled closer.  “Sorry, I didn’t believe you.”

“It’s all good.” Noct finally felt better, Ignis liked him!  They fell asleep a few minutes later.

 

* * *

 

 

Ignis wasn’t exactly uncomfortable but he wasn’t comfy either.  Things had happened and he had a fuzzy memory of them.  Opening his eyes revealed a passed out prince centimeters from his nose.  Wiggling slightly he understood why he felt stuck.  They were both apparently jammed into the same sleeping bag. 

Now magic was an odd thing so when things like status effects took place clothing and personal items went along for the ride.  This meant that Ignis was currently fully dressed, shoes included just like he was during battle.  The one new item of clothing was a comical yellow chocobo shirt stretched out over top of his shirt. 

“Anyone else awake?”  he asked hoping for a reprieve.  The astrals blessed him with an answer all be it a groggy one.

“Iggy? Is that you? Like the big version of you?” Gladio asked.

“Oh dear, did I shrink? I’m afraid I don’t remember much.”

“You were seven again.”

“Oh. That would explain my current predicament.”

This caused Gladio to sit up he smiled once he figured out what had happened.  “I can help you out, hold on.”

Noct slept through Gladio helping Ignis shimmy out of his sleeping bag.  Just kept on snoring like nothing was going on. 

“Do you need to go back to sleep?” Gladio asked. 

“Might not hurt.” Ignis pondered as he took of his shoes and Prompto’s t-shirt.  Figuring it didn’t matter much he kicked off his pants and threw his dress shirt in the corner. 

Gladio looked at him wide eyes. “Who are you and what are you doing?”

“Embracing my inner child, now where is my sleeping bag?”

“Between me and sunshine.” 

“Was I clingy?” He asked as he crawled over to sleep. 

“You were interesting.  I’m sure when Noct wakes up he will tell you everything and more.  I have a feeling he will hug you for the rest of the day.”

“Oh dear, I guess I wasn’t very nice to him then.” 

Gladio snickered.  “You were you.  I’m glad to have you back though.  You’re cute as a kid but I miss having back up when we fight, and decent dinners, and someone to talk to and –.”

Ignis cut him off. “I’m glad you missed me.  Now shall we go back to sleep?”  The older man smiled at him as he rolled over on his back.  He was going to have to make sure to fix Noct’s favorite breakfast to ensure his prince didn’t think he was unloved.  Hopefully Prompto took some pictures of his status effect; he was curious what he looked like with the others as a kid.      

  

 

**Author's Note:**

> Check me out on tumblr if you want. Just mostly FFXV stuff with some random dribbles. [BGN846 Blog](https://bgn846.tumblr.com/)
> 
> or Twitter [ BGN846 Twitter](https://twitter.com/BGN846?lang=en)


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